The latest agreement aimed at halting the fighting in Syria goes into effect Monday at sundown.

At that time, according to the deal announced by the United States and Russia, both the Syrian government and rebels are supposed to stop fighting each other.  

Syrian forces are also supposed to stop aerial attacks on the Nusra Front militant group.  The U.S. says those strikes often really target opposition fighters and are the main cause of civilian casualties.

Like most of the previous cease-fire efforts, this one starts with a small, 48-hour timeline.  It is renewable, and if it holds after a week, then the U.S. and Russia are due to launch a joint effort to target Nusra fighters as well as those from the Islamic State group.  The agreement also calls for getting much needed food and medical aid to places like Aleppo where Syria’s five-year war has left a humanitarian crisis.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday in announcing the arrangement that if successful, it will lead to a “significant reduction in violence across Syria.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the U.S. and Russia, which back opposing sides in the civil war, have an obligation to do their best in making sure the various parties comply.

Earlier cease-fire deals have brought reductions in violence, but in each case they eventually eroded as the government and rebels traded accusations of violations.

That track record has cast the new agreement with skepticism.  But so far President Bashar al-Assad’s government has said it will comply, as have the Hezbollah militant group that fights alongside his forces, and his ally Iran.  Syrian opposition groups also said they welcome the deal.

The civil war has left hundreds of thousands of people dead and displaced 11 million others.
…